Are you planning a project?

Guidelines on how to plan, start and carry out FORCE projects.

1. Gather members to make up the project group

The project group (PG) is responsible for pitching the idea to the Technical Committee (TC).Consider which of the FORCE network groups to involve, and keep in mind the added value of multidisciplinary projects.

2. Preparations

Before you start planning in detail, please have a browse through the rejected project proposals listed on the website, to make sure your project fits the profile of the successful ones! Also, please take a look at the FORCE Year Wheel for optimal timing for a project proposal in order to generate funds for the next year.

3. Project title and description

The PG needs to prepare a “one-pager”, - a summary with the key information about the project. The PG also needs to come up with a good and catchy title for the project, and prepare a project description of max. 10 pages. The description needs to address the following:

- how the project has relevance to exploration on the NCS

- scope of work

- schedule and milestones

- resources and budget

- the deliverables for the sponsors

- business model – JIP/consortium model

- which FORCE network groups are involved

4. Sponsoring

To help in finding sponsors to the project, the Secretariat will market the project towards the FORCE members and post project details on the FORCE web page. The PG can use their own networks to send the pitch to others in the member companies, and involve whoever they see fit.

The member companies will then decide on whether or not they wish to submit a "letter of intent". They might do so based on certain conditons.

5. Contracts

If the PG is to agree on a contract with collaborating partners, the advice is to use the Companies contract, and not NPD’s.

6. Webpage

The FORCE secretariat is available to publish the project on www.force.org .Once the project has been approved by the TC, the PG prepares the content/project description for the website, and sends it to the secretariat for publishing, along with any relevant documentation.

The best project websites are the “live” ones, constantly updated with documentation, schedules, minutes of meetings, etc. It is the PG’s responsibility to provide this to the secretariat.

7. Marketing

The PG is responsible for marketing the project to potential members, sponsors and/or partners.

8. As the project moves along:

Constantly evaluate the schedule and budget, and look for opportunities to improve.

9. The secretariat is at your assistance

The FORCE secretariat can help with various tasks in the project process: